A month after we reported that Walla Walla had been granted an expansion franchise in the West Coast League, a wood-bat collegiate baseball league, the team finally has a name.

At a press conference held Thursday, Nov. 12, the team name and mascot were officially announced. The team will be called the Walla Walla Sweets and its mascot will be Sweet Lou, an angry Walla Walla sweet onion brandishing a bat.

The ownership group, Pacific Ventures, held a name-the-team contest on the team’s Web site, www.wallawallabaseball.com. Out of more than 600 entries, the Sweets moniker was chosen.

Other popular entries included the Walla Walla Blues, the Walla Walla Padres and the Walla Walla Bing Bangs.

The team will open its inaugural season next summer at Borleske Stadium. The stadium is currently undergoing extensive remodeling in preparation for the 2010 season.

A party deck and beer garden are being added, along with new dugouts, a new backstop and a new grandstand behind home plate.

The West Coast League is a high-caliber college wood bat league with franchises in Oregon and Washington. The league attracts top college players looking to get some experience playing competitive wood bat baseball over the summer.

The season officially starts June 8.